A Little Pink Flower
by d27h
Summary: "An illness, some crystal tears, and a quiet nod. That's all it took to change their lives forever." After Ryuzaki Sakuno's grandmother dies, Ryoma's family, pitying her and worried about her well-being without a caretaker, take her along with them on their move to America. It doesn't take too long before the way Echizen Ryoma and Sakuno see each other change. Some OC.
1. Chapter 1

**A Little Pink Flower**

_I'm sure one or two of you readers have read my other RyoSaku fanfics. But this one is a standalone, I guess, and it's a sort of side story; I won't be putting too much focus on this one, but still, I hope you enjoy. :) [PS: the words in italics are all spoken in Japanese. You'll need this distinction later.]_

* * *

**Chapter 1- In Which An End Leads To A Beginning**

Ryoma Echizen wasn't always in love with Ryuzaki Sakuno.

In fact, all through middle school, one could say that he went out of his way to ignore her. And who could blame him? He had his own fan groups; if he had wanted a girlfriend or a date, he had a nice selection, all clamoring to be seen with him.

But no, he hadn't wanted that. He wasn't interested.

It wasn't until the last day of the last year of middle school that he seriously thought about her, because there would be a decision made that would bring them together.

It involved an illness, some crystal tears, and a quiet nod. That was all it took to change Ryoma's and Sakuno's lives forever.

* * *

Ryoma had to drag himself back home after that final day of school. It was a long, harassing day; his friends and fan clubs (yes, fan club with an _s_) had been crowding him, saying their tearful goodbyes and hugging him (and in the case of one of the girls, a kiss on the cheek) and generally making him uncomfortable.

The awkwardness of the last day was only salt to an already open wound. Ryoma and his family were moving to America the next day, and he had spent the last week or so packing up. Now, wherever he went in his house, he saw ridged and wrinkled boxes with tape slapped haphazardly on them. They made him cranky, for all of his possessions, save the clothes he would be wearing on the day of his departure, were in those boxes. How he wanted to feel the squishiness of the grip of his favorite racket! But no. It was shoved and crowded into a cube of cardboard.

Not that he didn't enjoy America. In fact, he was excited that his family was finally moving into the massive house they had bought in a small, peaceful, beautiful town in a place called New Jersey. He was happy to live relatively near New York City and feel its loud energy, especially in Times Square. He wanted to be able to speak English again, a language that he was, quite frankly, more comfortable with.

But still. His tennis racket was in a box. Of course he would be cranky.

Nanako, Ryoma's cousin, sifted through her suitcase in the living room. She, having been accepted into Princeton University in America, was going to go with the Echizen family. With a sigh, she shut the case and clicked it back shut.

"_I can't find my textbook,_" she said irately.

Ryoma shrugged and popped open a can of Grape Fanta. "_It's probably in the boxes somewhere,_" he replied.

Nanako trudged away, passing Ryoma's mother, Echizen Rinko. She and Ryoma's cousin looked alike, with the same elegant body, sleek midnight-blue hair, and ability to attract attention no matter where they were. That skill had made Echizen Rinko one of the most popular models in Japan, and it could only get better once the family moved to America.

"_Honey, are you ready?_" the supermodel mother asked, flipping open drawers to check that everything was packed away.

Ryoma nodded and moved his tongue around in the fizzy liquid in his mouth. He liked how it popped and hurt.

Rinko moved away to clean a smudge off of the window. "_Good thing the furniture is already sent ahead._"

"_It's not like we could lug it onto the private jet, anyways._"

(Yes. Private jet. It didn't hurt that Rinko was a supermodel, Ryoma's brother Ryoga was a world number one tennis player, and Ryoma's father Nanjiro was a former world champion.)

The front door slammed open, and Echizen Nanjiro came thundering in. This was unusual. The man was usually quiet, loud only when laughing or teasing.

"_We need to call that Ryuzaki girl. You know, the Tiger's granddaughter._" he roared, searching for his phone.

Ryoma arched an eyebrow. "_Why?_"

Nanjiro stood straight up. "_You don't know what happened?_"

Rinko tilted her head. "_None of us do. What?_"

Her husband took a deep breath. "_The Tiger Woman died today because of her cancer._"

Rinko's eyes widened, and Ryoma choked on the soda going down his throat. He had known that Ryuzaki Sumire was in the hospital with some kind of illness. But he didn't expect her to die.

"_Sakuno-san's probably devastated,_" Nanako said from where she had been standing quietly. "_She already lost her parents. Call her._"

"_Wait, what can we even do for her?_" Ryoma asked.

Nanjiro rubbed his temples. "_I don't know. But we can't just leave her be here, all alone._"

In a moment of total self-assuredness, Rinko declared, "_Then we're taking her to America with us._"

It was a good thing that Ryoma had not had another mouthful of Fanta in his mouth, because it would've gone all over everyone in the room.

"_What?!_" Nanjiro and Ryoma stuttered at the same time. Rinko stared coolly at them, daring them to challenge her.

"_Think about it. She's a young girl, mourning her grandmother. She can't live alone in her house; she'll be taken away. And,_" She turned towards her husband. "_if I'm not mistaken, you do owe quite a lot to Sumire._"

Nanjiro blinked twice, three times, then let out a giant breath. "_Okay, yes, I know what the circumstances are, and I do want to make sure she's okay and all, but she doesn't know any English and she has friends here. Besides, we're leaving tomorrow. She won't be ready."_

"_If you were her, what would you have wanted?_"

It went on like this for a while, with Ryoma silently supporting his father. He knew how heartless he probably sounded, but he still couldn't believe- or understand- what was happening.

And besides. He was Echizen Ryoma. He didn't need a heart.

"_How about this,_" Nanjiro said finally in the tone of voice he reserved for when he was on the brink of giving up. "_We check on her, and ask her_."

Rinko sniffed. "_I'm sure she'll refuse at first. But I will insist on her coming._"

Both Ryoma and Nanjiro groaned as they followed the triumphant Rinko out of the house.

* * *

Sakuno clutched her obaa-chan's hand tightly and buried her face into the hospital-bed sheets. She hadn't let any tears slip out of her eyes yet; any moment, her grandmother would admonish her for being weak and for not doing the housework yet. Any moment now.

A nurse kneeled next to Sakuno. "_Honey, I think it's best for you to go home now._"

Sakuno shook her head, feeling the scratchy blankets roughen the soft skin of her face.

In all honesty, she wasn't even sure how she had gotten to the hospital. Right after she got home, as she was preparing to make a meal to bring to her grandmother, the phone had rung, with a solemn male voice on the other end.

"_She's gone, honey_" was all she remembered before finding herself on her knees on a cold tile floor, next to her grandmother's body.

The nurse stood up quietly and left, shutting the door softly behind her. Sakuno listened to her footsteps fade, and peered up.

Her grandmother still hadn't moved. Sakuno slowly scooted herself up onto a chair, still never letting go, even when one of her braids draped itself uncomfortably around her neck.

She can't be dead, Sakuno repeated to herself. Obaa-chan was just telling jokes yesterday. She can't be dead she can't be dead shecantbedead...

The door suddenly slammed open, and the formidable Echizen Nanjiro stormed in, followed by a beautiful blue-haired woman that Sakuno didn't recognize. She was admonishing Nanjiro quietly:

"_Dear, don't go in so loudly. She's still in shock_."

Nanjiro stooped down in front of Sakuno. "_Hey, you_," he said, not unkindly. "_How're you doing?_"

Sakuno just nodded.

He took a deep breath. "_Well, I know you'll probably say no, but I- no, Rinko, here, Ryoma's mom- thinks that you should move to America with us._"

"_Honey! That's too sudden!_"

Sakuno couldn't have been more surprised had her dead parents drove in through the wall, wearing tuxedos and ball gowns. "_What?_" she asked, incredulous.

"_Look. You don't have to worry about expenses, or the house. Ryoga is staying behind to handle the cat's travel papers, not that I know why Karupin needs them. And-_"

"_Wait. Why?_"

The lady, Rinko, stepped in. "_Sweetie, we can't leave you here in Japan, all alone without a guardian. I know you would want to stay with a friend, but...we don't want you to have to stay where the memories hurt most._" It was a weak argument, and Rinko knew it, but it was really the best she could manage. After all, the main reason she wanted Sakuno to go was because of pure sentiment.

Sakuno looked down at her hand, which was clutching her grandmother's hand. How could she ever leave Japan? It was her birthplace, and everyone she knew was there. But how to decline politely...?

When she looked up to speak, mouth open just a little, she saw Ryoma leaning against the doorframe of the room. He seemed indifferent, but when Sakuno looked at his eyes and body posture, she could tell that he pitied her. He was sad for her.

And he feared for her.

Rinko must have seen the imminent surrender in Sakuno's eyes, because she pressed again. "_I don't want to force you. But I do think it would be the best choice for you._"

Suddenly, Sakuno started crying. Limpid tears raced down from her eyes, and her breaths turned short and ragged. Little cries escaped her, and she wiped her free hand over her face.

The three Echizens practically jumped at the aburpt crumbling of the girl's walls. Rinko hesitated, then put her arms around the now-sobbing Sakuno.

In between wails, Sakuno choked out the decisive words. "_Can- I- go- with- you-?_"

Ryoma said his first words. "_Good._" He walked over, next to Sakuno's chair, and patted her head once. She sniffled and looked up at him with wet eyes. With a weak, forced smile, she almost-imperceptibly nodded her head.

When she stood up to clean up the room and go, she dropped her grandmother's hand for the final time.

* * *

Sakuno was still sniffing and tearing up in the private jet, but she was more perplexed by the fact that someone her age actually had a family jet.

Rinko and Najiro were still arguing about Ryoga and how he had to stay behind to figure out the cat's papers. Sakuno, quite frankly, had to wonder: why on Earth did Karupin need travel papers if the family had their own plane?

The previous night had been harrowing. She, Ryoma, and Nanako, Ryoma's mother-lookalike cousin, had worked together to take whatever she wanted or needed from her own home- more accurately, apartment. At the sight of any pictures of possessions of her grandmother, Sakuno would burst into tears and struggle to contain herself. It took nearly three hours to clear just one small, sparse apartment.

Sakuno had come from a pretty well-off family, but after Sumire was diagnosed with cancer, the two had moved out of the big house and into a tiny apartment and sold most of their belongings. "_To save money,"_ her grandmother had said.

At first, Sakuno had been quite upset about the whole thing. But now, she was thankful that her grandmother had been so stubborn about it. The treatments were expensive, and Sakuno needed the money now on her way to America.

Oh, there it was again. The thought of her grandmother and her life-taking cancer. Sakuno bit her lip hard and curled up into a ball on her seat.

Immediately, a stewardess appeared at her side. "_Are you feeling okay, miss?_" the lady asked, genuine concern in her voice. "_Would you like some soda?_"

Sakuno opened her mouth to say no, but felt a wave of nausea overtake her. Plane rides had never suited her. Maybe something with bubbles would help calm her tumultuous stomach. She shut her mouth and nodded.

The stewardess returned almost at once with a green can and a plastic cup with ice at the bottom. She poured the drink, set the two bottles down on the table in front of Sakuno, and left.

Sakuno sipped the fizzy drink. It was a pale amber color, and the words on the can were written in English. The drink tasted strange, too, an almost-sickly sweet flavor like that of Fanta. But it was more bubbly, and after a little bit, Sakuno's stomach calmed.

"Ginger ale."

Ryoma was looking intently at her. Sakuno stared at him. "_Sorry?_"

"_It's called _ginger ale_ in English_."

"Oh." She turned back to the can on the table and tried to form the words in her mouth. "Jin-jer...ae-l..." The syllables were heavy and clipped in her mouth, but she found them easier to pronounce than most other English words that she tried to say. How did Ryoma make it look so easy?

Then she remembered her grandmother trying to teach her English, and Sakuno sniffled again.

Nanako walked over to Sakuno and crouched down next to her seat. "_Hey, Sakuno-san. Just to let you know, the flight's about twenty hours. Do you have something to do?_"

Sakuno felt a vestigial flicker of her usual self appear in the middle of her grieving. "_Yes...I do_." Nanako smiled and left, and Sakuno felt a bit normal again.

The little flame died out, along with the momentary relief, when she admitted to herself that she actually didn't.

* * *

Ryoma watched Sakuno toss and turn on her reclined chair. _She's certainly rolling a lot_, he thought to himself. _Must be a nightmare._

Usually, Ryoma was able to be out like a flame in water when he was tired. This time, however, he just couldn't get his eyes closed.

Sakuno whimpered once and flipped so that she was on her side, facing Ryoma. Her eyelids fluttered, and one of her breaths was heavy enough, taken in fast enough, to hear even over the sound of the engines.

A throbbing feeling in his chest surprised him. It was unfamiliar and frightening, especially when he finally realized that he was feeling sorrow. He shook his head.

_I can't be sad for her. It's not like it was my fault that her grandmother died._

Despite his arrogance, he could understand that what he was thinking was rude. With a violent shake of his head, he rolled onto his other side so that he faced the wall of the jet. The engines vibrations shook him gently, and sleep eventually claimed him.

* * *

_Okay, so maaaaayyybeee the story was abrupt...sorry. Can't do much better in dramatic stuff like this..._


	2. Chapter 2

**A Little Pink Flower**

_Hallo :) I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but this is one of my first-ever pieces that I wrote in third person. It's not going to be terribly good, because of my lack of experience writing like this, but still...please read and leave constructive criticism._

* * *

**Chapter 2- In Which Ryoma Learns**

No matter how sleepy or sad Sakuno was, she couldn't help but feel awe, looking at Ryoma's new house.

It was a mansion, in the full sense of the word. Impossibly, it was even larger than his home in Japan, and in Sakuno's opinion, much more beautiful. The house was newly constructed and contemporary, painted in light colors. It was a somewhat narrow house, but it was tall, three or four stories, not including the attic and the basement. A mural of a park was painted in the entrance hall, with a picture of a tree leaning over the door and cobblestones drawn onto the ground. They disappeared into the kitchen, which had a marble island in the center, a breakfast nook, and a glorious view into the massive backyard.

The basement was slightly larger than the first floor. There was plush carpeting and wood-paneled walls, and windows high up let in enough sunlight to keep the basement brightly lit. Some sunken circles indicated where heavy equipment had once been.

Sakuno had yet to see the bedrooms, but she knew that all six of them must be giant.

"_Honey, why don't you go with Ryoma to pick out a room?_" Rinko asked, smiling warmly.

"_Hai._" Sakuno turned and met Ryoma by the wide spiral staircase. He was picking at something on his white baseball cap, and didn't look up when Sakuno came by.

"_Alright. I'll show you the rooms and you can pick any of them except the master bedroom on the end of the second floor. It's my parents`."_

_"That's fine."_

They climbed up the stairs in silence, with Ryoma never looking up and Sakuno fearing for his safety. At the second floor landing, Ryoma stepped onto the carpet and pushed open the door of the nearest bedroom. He peered inside, then waved Sakuno over.

"_This is one of the rooms you can have. One of the normal rooms has its own bathroom. I think it's this one._"

It was empty as of then, but it was still surprisingly small. The window looked out onto the street out front, and the view of the neighborhood was unobstructed. Sakuno liked the room and its coziness, but the way the window allowed all to see in and out bothering her.

"_You don't like the room?"_ Ryoma asked.

"_I- I don't know. Can we see the other rooms first, then, Ryoma-kun?_"

Ryoma shrugged and led her out.

The other room was significantly bigger, with a large window that showed the backyard and the pool. Next door, the master bedroom took up a huge space and had windows on both sides.

Upstairs was another set of bedrooms. They were all the size of the second bedroom on the floor below, which was considerable, and two of them had windows that faced from the sides of the house.

One room, however, was in the interior, and had no windows. It was the largest and shaped somewhat like a hexagon, and the light cover for the bulb on the roof was colorful, dying the beige walls slightly red, blue, yellow, and everything else on the rainbow.

Sakuno took a liking to it at once, and she told Ryoma so. He nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Sakuno alone in her new bedroom.

She went about putting her clothes up in her closet and setting pictures down on the ground, since she had no idea as to how she would get a table. After it was all done, Sakuno sat down in the space where she wanted her bed to be and looked around.

Her room felt strangely crowded, despite the size and number of items in it. Perhaps it was because of the sheer number of glossy photos strewn about the room. Sakuno hoped that it would be better once she got something to keep her photos altogether on an elevated area and put her bed in its space.

Suddenly, Sakuno saw a picture of her and her grandmother that was tucked away into a corner. It was a rare photo from before Sakuno's parents died, when she was about eight. Sakuno and her grandmother were both in an ice cream shop, and little girl Sakuno was being handed strawberry ice cream by her _obaa-chan_. A radiant smile was on her cherubic face, and her brown braids were in the middle of a swishing motion as she reached.

Sakuno stretched out a hand in the direction of the photograph. How she wished she could take back that moment, frozen in time forever. How she wished that she could go back to when her innocence still existed, when her parents would lift her up and call her their little sweetheart.

She didn't want to live in a world where she was alone.

Sakuno took a deep, shuddering breath and fell onto her back on the unforgiving wooden floor. A clunk marked the meeting between her head and the ground, and the burst of dull pain made Sakuno flinch. She sucked in another deep breath, trying in vain to stop the flood of tears she knew was coming. Her attempts being unsuccessful, Sakuno flattened her hands against her face and wailed into her palms.

* * *

Ryoma had heard the thump from the next room over, but he didn't go to check on Sakuno until he heard her crying. He tried to push open the door quietly; still, Sakuno heard him, and she looked up.

In the moment before Sakuno composed herself and went back to her usual personality, Ryoma could see hurt in her eyes. Not the hurt that came from a dead goldfish, or even the hurt that came from a dead relative; it was the kind of pain that could come only from when one was totally abandoned and helpless, and without a hint of how to push on. The look only lasted for a heartbeat or less, but it was there, and in spite of Ryoma's stoical nature, it pierced him, and he could feel what Sakuno had most likely felt for a long time.

"_Hi._" Sakuno pushed herself to her elbows. "_I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Ryoma-kun_."

Ryoma's face heated up. Sakuno's sleeves were rolled up, and the bottom of her pink sweater had been scrunched, revealing part of her stomach. The edge of her skirt also showed a dangerous amount of skin on her thigh from her lying down.

He shook his head and looked away, willing away the redness. _This_, he told himself sternly. _Is the wrong thing to think about a girl whose grandmother just died and is trying to live without falling apart._ And yet, he replayed that picture in his mind.

"I- uh- do you m- um. Furniture downstairs, you can get it- I'll help-" he stuttered, trying and failing miserably at being cool.

"_That was English._" Sakuno swiped at her eye.

Whoops. Ryoma tried again. "_The furniture and boxes of stuff are downstairs, and I can help you get the bed set up and if you need anything else go ahead help yourself._"

It was a run-on sentence, but Ryoma's ability to speak seemed to have taken a vacation. To heaven-knows-where.

Sakuno stood up and brushed at nonexistent dust specks on her blue skirt. "_Arigato, Ryoma-kun_. _I would greatly appreciate your help_." She brushed past Ryoma on her way out the door, and it was all Ryoma could do to not imagine The Scene again.

Rinko, Nanako, and Nanjiro were already tearing open the cardboard boxes to get to the furniture. Pieces of a simple box-shaped bed frame were already out, and Rinko gave the pair permission to take it up to Sakuno's room. With great difficulty, Ryoma and Sakuno lugged the pieces up the stairs and assembled the bed, and then they realized that they had to get a mattress. Once more, they trudged down, grabbed the nearest unpacked mattress, and dragged it back up.

In the next few hours, the bed was assembled, the mattress was covered and placed, a bedside cabinet was brought up, a lamp was set up on the cabinet, and a bookshelf was constructed to accommodate Sakuno's books and pictures. As an afterthought, Nanako fitted metal poles into the shelves that contained pictures and put little curtains on. "_That way, if you don't want to see them, you can cover them._" Ryoma's cousin explained to a grateful Sakuno.

"_Arigato. But I think..."_ Sakuno tugged at the curtains. "_I think I won't ever use them_."

* * *

Luckily for the Echizen family and Sakuno, their jetlag had been overcome early by forcing themselves to go by American time at their hotel, so they could all sleep pleasantly and wake up the next day to continue furnishing the house.

However, it was only eight thirty at night. No one could sleep. Even though soreness spread through Sakuno's legs from the busy day, and her back hurt from carrying heavy items, but she couldn't get her eyes to close. It wasn't her preferred sleeping time yet.

So, Ryuzaki Sakuno was up and about, looking at everything in the house.

She opened cabinets, sifted through the books and magazines that had been taken out of their boxes, and admired the considerable amount of food that had already been moved into the fridge. She looked into the boxes that were still full, cleaned spots off of a mirror that lay on the floor, and tried to learn basic English from Nanako.

"Water. Wah-tur." a very patient Nanako enunciated.

Ever time, Sakuno's tongue would fold around the _tur_, and the syllable would come out like a _deh_. The problem stumped both Nanako and Nanjiro, who joined in with the lesson about fifteen minutes in.

"_It's not really that hard. Try again. _Water. Water. Waaaaaah tuuuuuuuuuuuuhr."

Sakuno threw her hands up in frustration.

Ryoma watched from the hallway that led to the first-floor bathroom. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his lips. It was amusing to him to see Sakuno, an extremely competent girl at almost everything, fail so badly at English. At least he was better than her at something that wasn't tennis.

It was eleven PM when Sakuno and Nanako finally gave up on the words that Sakuno struggled with. They each went to their respective rooms- Sakuno on the third floor, Nanako on the second- and Ryoma was left on the first floor with his mother.

Rinko was texting Ryoga, Ryoma's adopted older brother. Quiet _ding_s signaled each new message, as did Rinko's content tapping on the screen of her iPhone. At one point, Ryoma peered over her shoulder. Apparently, Karupin's travel papers had been completed. A picture of the fat Himalayan cat, lying with its stomach exposed to the world, appeared, and Rinko cooed.

"_He's such a dear_," she sighed, finally putting her phone down.

Ryoma assumed that she was talking about Karupin, because Ryoga did not seem to be a dear to him. "_Yup._"

"_I wonder if Sakuno-san likes cats?_"

Ryoma stiffened at the girl's name. Rinko noticed, and she laughed.

"_Oh? Does my son like Sa-_"

"Stop it, Mom. Don't let her hear." Ryoma hissed in English.

"Honey, you...oh well. If you like her, be open about that." Rinko replied with as much ease as Ryoma. Ryoma growled and bit down on an apple.

Rinko kneeled down in front of Ryoma on his stool. "Look. You need to give the girl more credit. She lost her parents when she was eight, and now she doesn't even have her grandmother any more." Her tone were serious, and her brown eyes locked onto Ryoma's golden ones. "If you do love her, let her know. I think she needs to feel needed right now."

She stood up. "Consider what I've said, dear." Rinko said in a much more gentle voice. "_Please_."

Ryoma chewed on his apple and nodded.

* * *

At around three in the morning, Ryoma got up to use the bathroom. The house was still unfamiliar to him, and the darkness blinded him. He fumbled around until he reached what he thought was the third-floor bathroom and opened the door.

Instead of a bathroom, however, it was Sakuno's room.

Ryoma took a step back, knowing how wrong the situation was- him, a teenage boy, peeking in on a sleeping girl his age. However, he couldn't help but look in.

Sakuno was lying on her side, facing the door. Her arm, which was tucked under her head, moved slightly with each quiet breath that she took. One of Sakuno's feet poked out from her blanket. Long, unbraided brown hair was spilled across her pillow, shining in the dim light.

Wait. Where was the light even coming from?

Ryoma squinted and made out a phone, clutched in the girl's hand. Its light was starting to die, but even from here, one could see that on the screen of the phone was a picture of little Sakuno and her family. Sakuno was on a man- her father's- shoulders, and a woman- her mother- was chiding him, probably for not being careful enough with their daughter. The grandmother- Ryoma's former tennis coach- was next to the mother with her arms folded.

The phone's light petered out.

_She used to be happy_, Ryoma thought. He glanced back at Sakuno. Her usually-smiling face was now blank, with a touch of a frown on her lips. Briefly, her eyes squeezed together.

Ryoma quietly backed out of the room and shut the door. After the click of the closed door sounded, he stood there for a long time. And he thought back to all the times that Sakuno had went to his tennis games, passed him in the hallways, or tried to wake him up when he fell asleep in class. She always wore a smile and spoke kindly, but he had always felt it was forced.

In the end, he was right.

_She has to act, every single day,_ he said to himself. _That girl has to deal with all the pain and pretend to have a perfect life, all at the same time_.

Now he hated himself for ignoring her.

* * *

_Like with my other story, this one probably isn't going too well. I'm not feeling so good this week, so gomenasai...please forgive me for this._


End file.
